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Growing carnations has a very long tradition. In ancient Greece, it was considered a flower given to people by the gods (hence its Latin name Dianthus - Dios = god). In the Middle Ages, it became a symbol for the Virgin Mary, love and marriage.

Among carnations, we can find annuals that won't survive winter, species that bloom in their second year, and species that will adorn your garden for many years.

You can grow low carnations that form dense carpets with hundreds of individual flowers, or tall ones with one large or several smaller blooms. The most common carnations are delicate pink or deep purple, but we can also find white, yellow or newly green cultivars. Everyone will surely find one that suits them.

Types of Carnations

Annuals

An annual carnation is the Chinese pink (Dianthus chinensis). You can find them in various heights from 15 to 40 centimeters. This is a very popular type of carnation. It exists in a wide variety of colors, we can choose from double, semi-double and single flowers. The flowers usually grow individually on separate stems.

Biennials

Biennial carnations include the well-known Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus). It's a plant about 40 cm tall with numerous small flowers at the top. It also goes by the name Chinese carnation. It blooms in its second year in May with a profusion of white, pink, red or purple flowers, flowering until July.

Perennials

Most cultivated species of carnations are perennials. We can include greenhouse, so-called American carnations, which we can buy as cut flowers. They reach a height of 0.5 m and bloom with a single double flower in various colors. In our conditions, they can only be grown in a greenhouse.

Similar to American carnations is the Czech-bred Klatovy carnation, which we can safely grow in the garden as well.

Perennial carnations also include species grown in rock gardens. These typically have silvery leaves and form dense cushions. As rock garden carnations, we grow species such as Cheddar pink (Dianthus caesius), Dianthus alpinus blooms from June to August, Dianthus allwoodii - continues flowering from June until September, Dianthus deltoides, Dianthus plumarius - feathered pink is often grown for its truly strong fragrance, Dianthus arenarius (sand pink) is one of the white-flowering carnations.

Growing Carnations

For carnations, we choose a sunny location. The soil should be neutral or slightly alkaline with sufficient lime. They are not too demanding regarding moisture or nutrients, but occasional fertilizing and watering will support abundant flower production.

For large-flowered varieties, it's advisable to attach support to the flower stems to prevent them from breaking or bending under the weight of the blooms.

Annual species are sown in February or March and grown at room temperature until May, when the plants can be planted outdoors.

Carnations are propagated by seeds, cuttings or division. Cuttings are taken from side shoots, cut just below the node. Leave 3-4 pairs of leaves on the cutting. Allow them to root in sandy substrate at high air humidity.

You can buy seeds of various carnation species in our e-shop right now!

Written by Eliška Kadlecová